Thursday, March 31, 2011

INDIA Cheers!!!

The stage was set for the biggest game of the world cup. There are many famous sporting rivalries but none of them come closer to that of India v Pakistan. Whenever these two sides meet the air gets thick, one can sense the pride and nationalism on the faces of all the people across borders and it gives another chance for diplomats to try and revive the broken relationships and once again make promises of peace. No matter what and how much ever you say to yourself, that it is just a game - but the fact is that it is NOT just a game. If it was just another game, people would not have taken impromptu day off from work. People would not have installed new LCD TV sets at public places, junctions and stations and the roads would'nt have been empty during peak hours.

So this was it. The crowd was in full attendance with distinguished guests from both countries seated in the VVIP boxes. On this day the toss was crucial and MS Dhoni called it right. However his team selection raised a li'l furore but all was forgotten when players got down in the middle to do the business. Virender Sehwag once again showed that he has no nerves, he plays in his natural way that he knows, if the ball is there to be hit, he hits them hard. Umar Gul was punished badly and he lost his line and length completely as he gave away 5 boundaries in a single over. India were cruising along and it seemed like 300+ score is on the cards. I have not seen a match where Sachin got as many as 5 lives. Yesterday he was helped by DRS system as well as Pakistan's fielders. Yet Sachin fretted away opportunity to score his 100th ton. At this stage, Pakistan were on top and once again Indian innings seemed to crumble under pressure. Suresh Raina batted sensibly to take score to 260 and set up a fighting total.

The battle was on and we had a game hung by narrowest of threads. Indian bowlers, supposedly weakest link of this magnificent team defended the total and bowled deceptively to pick wickets at regular intervals. Who would have thunk that? As usual whenever India had needed wickets in this tournament they have had to look to Zaheer Khan or Yuvraj Singh to provide those break throughs. Though it was not Yuvi's day with the bat he did well with the ball by picking 2 wickets in succession in space of 3 runs. First was an arm ball to dismiss Shafiq and then loopy delivery to outfox Younis Khan who hit straight to Raina at covers. India were inching closer towards the victory. Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi hit some lusty blows but that was not going to stop vigorous Indian players who were getting all the cheering from Mohali crowd. Opting to play Ashish Nehra for R Ashwin was a bold gamble that paid off.

INDIA 5 - 0 PAKISTAN.

We will remember this game all our lives. Pakistan's fine bowling could not compensate for its abysmal catching skills. India's batting was below its best but MS Dhoni's men showed admirable courage whenever the chips were down. Team India deserved to win this game; Pakistan didn't. Hard luck, my friend Jack!

The joy erupted out of the billion Indian fans, many danced on the streets and celebrated the victory last night and a few let small tears of happiness trickle through dreamy eyes and all of them prayed to the Almighty to give us another day like this on Saturday. The finals at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai has got all the ingredients for being a cracker of a cricket contest between the two best Asian countries - India and Sri Lanka. The two teams have played against each other on numerous occasions in last 2 years so there will not be any surprise element or added pressure for the two teams. Sri Lanka have beaten New Zealand twice and not so good England on home soil before coming into the finals. India on other hand, have played a "mini-final" against Oz and "final of all the finals" against Pakistan so they look a well prepared unit to take on the Lankans.All the talk will be about Sachin playing in his home ground, 100th century, may be last world cup game but all that matters to Dhoni & Co. is India winning the World Cup 2011.

So Mumbai Let us up the decibels and give a loud roar for Team India, say Hip Hip Hooray, Hip Hip Hooray!!! Come on India - Bleed Blue!!!

Monday, March 21, 2011

SWOT-ing the Cup

With the momentum of Cricket World Cup reaching its zenith, we now have 8 teams that have reached the quarterfinals of this edition of the cup after month long hard work in group stages.

There are no surprises in the teams that have made it to the next round. Bangladesh's dream came to a crushing halt as they suffered heavy defeat to second string South African team. The Associates had a good world cup too with teams like Netherlands and Zimbabwe managing to give scare to few established teams. But the best team from the lot was Ireland who managed to do a giant killing act as they twice successfully chased a total of 300 plus.

At this stage, let us also look back at few individuals who have shone brighter than some other stars in this world cup.

Virender Sehwag - He started off the campaign with vintage knock of 175 against Bangladesh. He achieved a rare feat for a batsman to score boundary of the first ball in each of the group games he played in.

Kevin O'Brien - He scored the fastest century of the world cup against England in just 50 balls and also set up his team's first win of the tournament. Without this big Irish lad, Group B would'nt have been as interesting as it turned out to be.

Ross Taylor - On his birthday, Ross Taylor smashed a swashbuckling century against Pakistan. Infact he was also team's stand-in captain that day and he led by example. He along with Jacob Oram added more than 100 runs in last 5 overs.

Umar Gul - Apart from Afridi. he has been Pakistan's main bowler in this tournament. He picks up wicket whenever his team needs them and has shown his class in reverse swing department.

Robin Peterson - This little south paw from South Africa has proved to be a gem in the squad. with names like Steyn, Amla, Kallis being the talking points he has quietly won 2 games for his team single handedly with his mighty hitting and plucky bowling.

Now a look at teams that have made it to Quarter Finals and a SWOT analysis to see who has better chances of progressing to the semis and then may be to finals.

PAKISTAN

Strengths: Like many world cups in the past, even this year they are very strong in bowling. Especially the conditions of sub continent suit their bowlers well and Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi have shown it by picking wickets at regular intervals. Abdur Razzaq also picked up few against Australia to get back into some rythm for the knock out stages.

Weaknesses: It is said that Catches win Matches. But for Kamran Akmal, it is the most difficult thing for him to do. Usually spends more energy chirping behind the stumps, would do Pakistan a lot of good if he can focus on his wicket keeping job.

Opportunities: Pakistan have'nt yet posted a huge total in the tournament. They should try to bat first and put a huge total in exceess of 300 to give confidence to their batsmen going into semis.

Threats: Pakistan are susceptible to over confidence, stealth and in-fighting. So far they have manged to stay clear of any such controversies but with them you never know - it just crops up in end hour. From the match perspective, if Gayle, Pollard and co. get going they can make any target look easy.

WEST INDIES

Strengths: West Indies have an explosive batting line up. If Gayle clicks into his best form he can make all grounds looks smaller. Darren Bravo is a talented youngster in mould of Brian Lara and is good on accumulating runs.

Weaknesses: The short comings in batting are exposed brutally if they lose quick wickets. Besides Sarwan, they dont have players with composure who can steady the ship when needed.

Opportunities: Since most of them will already have written them off, they can actually relax and apply their strategies and make Pakistan work harder to get their runs.

Threats: Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi. They have to play these two bowlers wisely and hope their batsmen have a day off.

OVERALL: Pakistan hold a slight edge over West Indies to win the 1st Quarter Final match to be played on 23rd March 2011 at Mirpur, Bangladesh.

AUSTRALIA

Strengths: The team is well balanced and usually late bloomers in the tournament. They are the World Champions and will need no extra motivation to retain that status. Brett Lee's performance has been impressive and they also have a better track record in world cup's against India.

Weaknesses: Form of Ricky Ponting will be worrying the Aussies. Also they have come to India with pace quartet on spinner friendly tracks. If Lee and Tait dont make early in roads they will struggle to contain and pick wickets.

Opportunities: None.

Threats: The whole of Ahmedabad will be screaming for India. So you can be assured of zero crowd support for Australia. Plus they have already lost to India during WC prep match.

INDIA

Strengths: Batting is India's main strength. And likes of Sehwag, Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh have lived up to the expectations.

Weaknesses: India's bowling is not as good as the Aussie counterparts. In Zaheer they have an intelligent bowler but he relies heavily on help from others around him. Harbhajan has been instrumental in stopping the flow of runs but he has been shy of wickets.

Opportunities: India have'nt taken full advantage of death over power play yet. So Dhoni and Pathan have to take up the responsibility to ensure that we don't lose wickets and score at good rate in these overs.

Threats: Shane Watson and Brett Lee - two Oz players who are most liked by few Indians in India because of their IPL presence.

OVERALL: It is time to turn the tables on Australia. Their period of dominance is coming to end. India have home advantage, Sachin's 100th century and inclusion of R Ashwin stabilizing the bowling woes. Only 1 winner - INDIA!!!

NEW ZEALAND

Strengths: They are good fielding side and with that they manage to save 25-30 runs per game. Tim Southee has done well enough to pick up wickets with new ball.

Weaknesses: Batting has been patchy and far too dependent on Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor. They dont play spin too well and can be beaten easily if not their day.

Opportunities: They are dark horses in this tournament hence cannot be taken lightly.

Threats: Injuries to Vettori, Hamish Bennet have already reduced their chances. With respect to the match, their biggest threat will be in all departments - facing Dale Steyn and Morkel or trying to contain Amla or DeVilliers.

SOUTH AFRICA

Strengths: By far the best team in the tournament. They have enough resources to bail them out from any match situation.

Weaknesses: The only weakness could be if they are asked to play on a pitch that turns square onto the batsmen.

Opportunities: They were the only team that was experimental in the group stages and all their players got a decent chance to prove themselves. Most of them are playing at top of their form and have equal opportunities to excel further in the tournament

Threats: 'Chokers' tag which is applicable to this team can come back to haunt them in most unimaginable way. If they are puy under pressure, they can crumble like they did against England.

OVERALL: South Africa are the favorites to progress from this game because they have jelled better as a team.

SRI LANKA

Strengths: Sri Lanka have batsmen who can adapt well to the sub continent conditions. Their quarter final will be played at home so they will have crowd support as well. The form of captain Sangakkara has been pleasing to watch.

Weaknesses: The lower middle order has not performed that well. If opposition can get rid of Dilshan, J'wardene and Sanga then Lankans can be put to sword.

Opportunities: Malinga and Murali have not picked as many wickets as they would have liked. But nonetheless, they have been important to control the match in middle overs.

Threats: Graemme Swann will be an equal threat if Sri Lanka play to their strengths - Spin. Complacency can bring downfall of the best of the teams and Sri Lanka cannot be spared from this.

ENGLAND

Strengths: 6 games, 6 thrillers. They will take a lot of confidence from those matches. But even a lame beggar knows they have been riding on their luck so far in this tournament. Strauss and Trott have been amongst runs and they will need to score again if they want to challenge the Lankans on their home soil.

Weaknesses: England have been poor in fielding. They have dropped catches and misfielded under pressure. Their bowling in power play overs has'nt been great - generally have bowled length and got punished.

Opportunities: They are the T20 champions, they have won Ashes recently. Winning the World Cup when no body expects from them will be a huge lift for the England team.

Threats: They have had a long tour of Australia, then all close games in World Cup. In between this they lost few players to injuries. Not sure if they have enough steam left in their tank to fight another day in the tournament.

OVERALL: There will be a few tired minds and legs in England camp after the game at Colombo. But they can leave the shores with their heads held high for they will have provided 7th thriller of their WC campaign, but just falling short to Sri Lanka.

Just to re-iterate the dates of the World Cup -
23rd March 2011 => Pakistan v West Indies
24th March 2011 => Australia v India (also my birthday, so will be a special match on special day ;)
25th March 2011 => New Zealand v South Africa
26th March 2011 => Sri Lanka v England

Book your calendar and enjoy these games!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

The Turning Point

First things first. Barcelona deserved their victory in this enthralling Champions League encounter at the Camp Nou. Over the two legs, Barcelona had more possession of the football and also kept passing the ball at higher success rate than Arsenal did. Hence I dare say that we were better in any department compared to Barcelona. At the time of the draw, everybody had written us off to compete against Barcelona. The fears grew stronger knowing Barcelona had thrashed Real Madrid 5-0 at their home ground. So Arsenal had very little chance, but the boys stood up to the task and with some luck could have also managed to cross this hurdle.

Now I come to the If's and But's that changed the whole context of the match. Arsenal v Barcelona was always going to give a lot of talking points, but there was more of a breaking news when Arsenal announced Robin van Persie to start the second leg against Catalonian giants.
Inclusion of RvP was meant to bolster the attack in a match which we were supposed to defend deep and defend all the time. In that case, the inclusion defies logic. Secondly, How Rosicky still makes to the starting 11 is beyond my imagination, frankly it has touched my nerves now. He should be sold off this summer with immediate effect. In his 6 years at Arsenal he has never helped us win a major trophy. Even yesterday, when the whole team was back tracking defending in numbers. Rosiccky just failed to impress, he hardly has any pace nor did he show desire to win the ball. He fell on the ground very easily and made Sagna's life on the right wing difficult. A total contrast to what we saw on the left wing where Nasri was coupling with Clichy to shut down the attacking threat of Messi and Alves.

Now who are the two most experienced players of the squad? Who would you look upto in the match of this intensity to give fellow players confidence to play at their top of the game? And what happens when those 2 players end up making stupid mistakes? Yes, just when it seemed like Arsenal defenders and our two goal keepers had ensured a clean sheet for first half; Cesc Fabregas tried his cheeky back heel assuming Wilshere to get on the end of it and make a surging run forward. The back heeled pass rebounded and Messi's feather touch control over ensured ball found the back of the net. Arsenal's resistance was broken. And before this happened Arsenal has already lost Scezeny, Abidal had held RvP's throat and our defenders were all on first caution from ref and had to be extremely careful for second half.

There was one bright sparky moment in second half as Nasri ran pitch length on left and won a corner for self. His corner was floated up in the box and Diaby's leap left Bussquets heading the ball into his own net. At 1-1, Arsenal were going through to quarter finals, unexpectedly. But more was to come and RvP did the cynical act of taking a shot after being whistled for offside by the line ref. Did he hear the whiste or not - only he and players can tell? I personally think he saw the flag raised but didnt hear the whistle. Hence he took a shot with his wrong foot in frustation. Had he not seen the flag and not heard the whistle - he would have tried to place the ball in top corner with his left foot rather than blaze away wide of the camera person behind goal. The Swiss ref was to hear no explanation from any of the Arsenal players and he rightly by the letter of the law showed red card to van persie. 11 v 11 was difficult, 11 v 10 became impossible. A classic Xavi goal and Messi penalty sealed the game in Barca's favour and then onwards it was just playstation stuff. Jack Wilshere had plans to disrupt the Barca party but Bendtner had other plans. Big Dane might boast and say all the crap he thinks about himself but he is a nobody when it matters the most. How he failed to control the ball on first touch and take it away from goal only he can explain? Anyways what has happened has happened and we cannot change the result now.

The turning point in this game was most definetely the Cesc's back heel rather than RvP's red card. Again as I said, at the time when draw was made I did not expect us to go through this tie as winners over 2 legs. But just the manner in which it unfolded, we had a chance and we blew it.

Now we have to wake up again and be focussed solely on the Premier League. Hope the players can give us one trophy atleast this season to savour the memories.